Xiaomi could be looking to revive the modular phone concept
Many years ago, Google and Motorola attempted to launch the modular smartphone concept with Project Ara, but we all know how that turned out. Phone makers have since moved on from that concept, but not Xiaomi. According to a patent discovered by LetsGoDigital, they have unearthed what appears to be Xiaomi’s interest in modular phones.
According to the patent, Xiaomi envisions its modular phone to come in three parts – a top module that will house the rear cameras, the circuit board, the RAM, and storage; the middle module will play home to the battery; the bottom module will be where the USB port and speakers are.
This means that in terms of modularity, users will be able to swap around things like battery size. Or they could also swap out the speaker component to something better, or they could also swap around the camera module and switch between various lens types and combinations.
We have to say that it is a pretty wild concept and one that we’re not sure if Xiaomi will ever make a reality. There have been some real-life modular-ish phones from Motorola and the Moto Mods, and let’s not forget the LG G5 which was LG’s attempt at making a somewhat modular phone. None of these have been runaway successes, in fact the LG G5 was said to have cost LG rather dearly.
In any case, it’s nice to imagine how things could be or could have been, but what do you think? Could modular phones make a return?
Source: LetsGoDigital